Firearm mounted in a shoe heel

ABSTRACT

A FIREARM DEVICE IN WHICH A TUBULAR ELEMENT FORMING A BARREL IS MOUNTED IN A SHOE HEEL OR SHOE SOLE AT THE REAR END OF THE SHOE AND RECEIVES A RIM FIRE CARTRIDE IN THE BACK END. THE CARTRIDGE CAN BE DETONATED BY A SHARP IMPACT ON THE BOTTOM OF THE HEEL OR THE REAR END OF THE HEEL.

- Jan. 1971 E. sTuA T, SR 3,557,431

' FIREARM MOUNTED IN A SHOE HEEL Filed S,ept. 12/ 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG-2 W/I/l wall/viii n; It '11. 26

, FIG-3 32 Q I 2 M m H H i 24 20 32 g 2s 24 '20 32 18c if 2'8 Ill I I 4} INVENTOR. I I 14 FRED E. STUARTs Jam 1971 F. E. STUART, s H 3,557,481 FIRE ARM MOUNTED IN A SHOE HEEL Filed Sept. 12, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG-4 INVENTOR. FRED E. STUART 5 p United States Patent Oifice 3,557,481 FIREARM MOUNTED IN A SHOE HEEL Fred E. Stuart, Sr., 1157 Bel Aire Drive, P.O. Box 5856, Daytona Beach, Fla. 32018 Filed Sept. 12, 1968, Ser. No. 759,445 Int. Cl. F41c 9/00 US. Cl. 42-1 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A firearm device in which a tubular element forming a barrel is mounted in a shoe heel or shoe sole at the rear end of the shoe and receives a rim fire cartridge in the back end. The cartridge can be detonated by a sharp impact on the bottom of the heel or the rear end of the heel.

T he present invention relates to a firearm device and is particularly concerned with such a device in which an article of wearing apparel, specifically, a shoe, has'incorporated therein a gun barrel and means for detonating a bullet placed in the barrel.

The device according to the present invention is intended for use by military personnel and police and other authorized persons and is characterized in that it is available under emergency circumstances when it might not be possible to use any other type of weapon.

The particular object of the present invention is a provision of a novel firearm device adapted for authorized personnel, such as military personnel or police, and which is normally completely concealed and which can be actuated in a special manner under extraordinary circumstances.

A still further object of this invention is the provision of a gun arrangement mounted in a shoe which can be fired in a special manner but which, in the ordinary use of the shoe, is perfectly safe and will not be fired.

A still further object of the present invention is the provision of a gun arrangement which can be contained within the heel of a shoe.

A still further object of the present invention is a provision of a gun arrangement which can be contained in the sole of a shoe without, however, interfering with the flexibility of the shoe.

The foregoing objects as well as other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent upon reference to the following detailed specification, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view showing a substantial conventional shoe with a firearm, or gun, arrangement according to the present invention embodied in the heel thereof;

FIG. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section taken through the heel showing one form of the firearm arrangement according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a plan view taken substantially on line III III of FIG. 2 showing how the heel could carry the plurality of devices according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 1 but showing how a device of the present invention could be embodied in the sole of a shoe;

FIG. 5 is a partial plan section indicated by line V-V on FIG. 4 showing the device of FIG. 4 more in detail and which device somewhat modified from that of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal vertical section through a heel for being mounted on a shoe showing still another form which the device can take; and

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary section through the heel of a shoe showing a manner in which a device according to the present invention could be mounted therein so as to be Patented Jan. 26, 1971 insensitive to any pressure that might be developed on the heel in normal use.

Referring to the drawings somewhat more in detail, FIG. 1 shows a shoe 10 having a sole 12 and a heel 14. Indicated in dotted lines at 16 in the heel is a firearm, or gun, device according to the persent invention. This device, as will be seen in FIG. 2, comprises a relatively short barrel 18 having a chamber 20 at the rear end for receiving a cartridge 22. Cartridge 22 has a rim portion 24 which, when struck or compressed will detonate the powder charge in case 22. Such cartridges are well known and are referred to as rim fire cartridges.

The extreme rear end of the barrel has an enlarged portion at 26 through which the cartridge is introduced into the barrel and this may be closed by a threaded plug 28 to retain the cartridge in place. A firing pin 30 extends through enlarged portion 26 into spaced relation with the rim 24 of the cartridge. In normal use, the firing pin 30 does not move up into engagement with rim 24 but upon striking the heel against a hard surface, pavement, for example, with sufficient force, the firing pin will be driven upwardly by the compression of the rubber and into engagement with rim 24 and will detonate the cartridge and the projectile portion 32 will be driven out of the front end of the barrel.

The projectile 32 can, of course, be a conventional type projectile, or it can be frangible projectile which breaks up, or splinters, as it leaves the barrel to give a scatter pattern, or it can be a carrier of tear gas or some other personnel incapacitating gas. It will be apparent that a shoe provided with a device of the nature referred to forms a valuable adjunct to the regular weapons carried by military personnel and by police and can be used even though the regular weapons have been lost or become jammed or for some other reason are not available.

It will be noted that the angle of barrel 18 in the heel is such that the projectile when driven from the barrel will just clear the'bottom of the shoe sole, and, for this reason, the shoe must be tilted upwardly slightly in order for the projectile to be projected toward the front.

As will be seen in FIG. 3, the heel could have a plurality of barrels 18a, 18b, and 18c mounted therein and, since the heel is somewhat rounded in the back, this would provide three firearms which could be discharged individually depending upon the angle at which the shoe was turned before the heel was impacted on the ground. A particularly hard impact of the heel on the ground might, of course, detonate two or even all three of the devices but it is also possible for the devices to be detonated singly.

FIG. 4 shows a shoe 40 similar to that of FIG. 1 except for having a heavier sole 42. The heavier sole 42 permits one or more devices, as indicated by the dashed line 44, to be mounted in the heel with the barrels extending from the extreme heel end of the shoe forwardly in the sole to jjust forwardly of the instep in the region where the shoe ends.

As will be seen in FIG. 5 each device comprises a barrel 46 adapted for receiving a cartridge 48. A sleeve 50 is telescopically mounted on the extreme rear end of the barrel and the cartridge is introduced into the barrel through this sleeve. A plug 52 is threaded into the back end of the sleeve 50 and retains the cartridge into position. The barrel 46 has a flange 54 thereon in spaced relation with the front end of the sleeve 50 and a stiff wave washer 56 is interposed between the front end of the sleeve and the flange 54. The arrangement is such that an extremely strong impact against the back end of the sole will drive the plug 52 and the sleeve 50 forwardly along the barrel against the bias of Wave washer 56 thereby to compress the rim portion of the cartridge and effect detonation thereof. Similarly to the first described modification, two or more barrels could be incorporated in a shoe as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. The material of the sole is more resistant to deformation than that of a rubberlike heel so the device of FIGS. 4 and 5 is quite certain to be detonated only by a deliberate, hard impact of the back of the shoe against a hard surface, such as a curb.

In FIG. 6, heel 60 has a barrel 62 therein open at the front end and terminating short of the rear end of the heel. The heel has a cavity 64 communicating with the back end of the barrel and this cavity is closed by a resilient plug 66. Plug 66 may have a rim part 67 so it is retained in the base rim which may have a groove to receive the rim part. When plug 66 is removed, cartridge 68 can be introduced into the rear end of the barrel. Plug 66 is then replaced by pressing it into cavity 64. A sharp impact of the rear of the heel against a hard surface, such as a curb, will be suflicient to press the rim of the cartridge against the end of the barrel and effect detonation of the cartridge. This modification, like that of FIGS. 4 and 5, is substantially completely insensitive to pressures or impacts on the bottom of the heel and requires, instead, that the back of the heel be strongly impacted against a surface, such as a curb, to effect detonation of the cartridge.

FIG. 7 shows still another arrangement in which the cartridge can be detonated only by an impact delivered against the rear of the heel. In FIG. 7, heel 70 has a barrel 72 therein adapted for receiving cartridge 74. Threaded plug 76 holds the cartridge in place in the said barrel. The barrel is furthermore provided with a somewhat funnel shaped passage 78 extending from the back of the heel forwardly and curving inwardly and upwardly to adjacent the rim 80 of the cartridge. A ball 82 is placed at the barrel end of the passage and the remainder of the passage is filled with the resilient material of the heel. The barrel may, for example, be molded into the heel.

When the heel is in use, impacts against the bottom thereof will not drive ball 82 against the rim of the cartridge while, howeevr, a sharp impact on the back of the heel against a hard surface will drive the ball inwardly toward the rim of the cartridge and cause it forcibly to engage the rim 80 of the cartridge and effect detonation of the cartridge.

The modifications of FIGS. 1 to 3 and 6 and 7 utilize a resilient heel whereas the modification of FIGS. 4 and 5 can utilize regular leather or plastic material and this can, of course, be relatively less resilient than the usual rubber material embodied in a rubber heel.

As will be seen in FIG. 3, as shown by tape 15, any of the modifications shown could have the discharge ends of the barrels sealed against the ingress of mud, or th like, as by a strip of adhesive tape.

It will be apparent that modifications other than those specifically shown in the drawings can be made in the invention by those skilled in the art and falling within the purview of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A firearm device comprising, in combination; a shoe having a sole portion, a toe end and a heel dependent from the sole portion at the rear end thereof, at least one tubular member in the said heel and opening toward th oe d f the hoe, the axis of said tubular mem er 4 being inclined downwardly toward the front of the heel so as to pass beneath said sole portion, means to introduce a detonatable element into the rear end of the tubular member, and means operable for detonating said element upon striking the rear part of said heel with a predetermined impact.

2. A device according to claim 1 in which said detonatable element is a rim fire element and has a rim part engaging the rear end of said tubular member and is pressed against the end of the tubular member by the impact on the heel of the shoe.

3. A device according to claim 2 in which said tubular member includes a sleeve reciprocably mounted on the rear end thereof and also disposed in the said heel of said shoe, a plug in said sleeve to retain said element in the rear end of said tubular member, an annular shoulder on the tubular member spaced from the front end of said sleeve, and a spring between said shoulder and said sleeve whereby a forwardly directed impact on the rear end of the heel will drive said sleeve forwardly and cause detonation of said element.

4. A device according to claim 2 in which said heel of said shoe comprises a rubber-like heel member, said tubular member being confined in its entirety in said heel member.

5. A device according to claim 4 in which said heel member includes a detachable plug in the rear end retaining said element in the tubular member, a forwardly directed impact on the rear of said heel member serving to cause said plug to drive said element against the rear end of the tubular member and detonate said element.

6. A device according to claim 4 in which the rear end of said tubular member is counterbored to form a shoulder to engage said rim of said element and is threaded rearwardly of the said shoulder, a threaded plug in the threaded rear end of the tubular member to hold said element in the tubular member, and firing pin means in the tubular member at said shoulder having one end adjacent the rim of said element and its other end engaging the rubber-like material of the heel member to transmit an impact from the rear portion of the heel member to the rim of said element.

7. A device according to claim 6 in which said firing pin means extends downwardly from said tubular member toward the bottom of said heel member.

8. A device according to claim 6 in which said firing pin means is a ball, a rigid member between the bottom of the heel member and said ball which interrupts the continuity of the material of the heel member between the ball and the bottom of the heel member while maintain- .ing the continuity thereof between the ball and the back of the heel member whereby only a forwardly directed impact on the back of the heel member will detonate said element.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 277,458 5/1883 Cassidy 42-1 (K) 3,287,843 11/1966 Seidel et al 42-l6 3,455,047 7/1969 Hoag 42-1 (N) BENJAMIN A. BORCHELT, Primary Examiner C. T, JORDAN, Assistant Examiner 

